"We used to get a lot of interceptions off of him in practice," Bush said. "But recently, we haven't been picking him off as much."

That's probably about the most positive statement that could be said about Harrell after last Thursday's 35-10 loss to Cleveland.

This was Harrell's big moment. After fighting for 3½ years to prove he can play in the NFL, these were the most meaningful snaps he had seen in a preseason game.

Afterward, Harrell would have loved a mulligan.

Harrell was erratic, slow to make decisions and lacked a pocket presence. He finished with a miserable quarterback rating of 26.4 after completing 12 of 24 passes for just 100 yards with two interceptions.

In nine possessions with Harrell under center, Green Bay managed just five first downs and three points.

For a team that's been blessed with No. 2 quarterbacks such as Matt Flynn, Aaron Rodgers, Craig Nall, Matt Hasselbeck, Doug Pederson and Mark Brunell over the past two decades, this was problematic.

"We'd like to score more points and that's the key - score points and finish drives and we didn't do that," Harrell said. "We're always confident in ourselves. It's not like I'll ever lose confidence in myself."

Internally, the Packers are likely having countless discussions about Harrell, trying to decide whether he's cut out to handle the No. 2 job.

General manager Ted Thompson and his staff don't have to look far to find a case study where a subpar backup quarterback ruined a season.

Last year, Chicago was 7-3 and winners of five straight games when Jay Cutler went down with a broken thumb. At the time, many considered the Bears the NFC's second best team.

Chicago put its faith in Caleb Hanie, who like Harrell was an undrafted free agent. Over the next four weeks, Hanie posted a forgettable passer rating of 41.8, threw three touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Chicago went 0-4 in Hanie's starts and averaged just 11.8 points per game. Hanie was eventually replaced by journeyman Josh McCown, but by then, the season was doomed.

What had to kill Chicago's brass is that Cutler would have been ready for the postseason. If the Bears had simply gone .500 in the six games Cutler missed, they would have been guaranteed no worse than the No. 6 spot in the NFC.

And as everyone around Green Bay remembers, the sixth-seeded New York Giants went on the win the Super Bowl.

The Bears learned their lesson, and signed Jason Campbell, who has 70 career starts under his belt, this off-season.

When it comes to the health of starting quarterbacks, no team has been as fortunate as Green Bay the last two decades.

Brett Favre started every game from Week 4, 1992 through the 2007 season. Rodgers has missed just two games between 2008-'11, including the season finale last season when he was a healthy scratch.

No one expects the No. 2 quarterback to have the success of the starter. But most teams aim to go .500 if the starter misses a month.

Could Green Bay do that with Harrell?

"Oh yeah," cornerback Tramon Williams said. "Obviously, Graham hasn't started out like he's wanted to, but he still has time. I think personally he's a better player than he's been in the past, and it's going to show up."

The problem for Harrell is that he's running out of time. He's seen extensive action the first two games, but Rodgers will play at least a half Thursday in Cincinnati and No. 3 B.J. Coleman figures to get a lot of time in the final preseason game.

Harrell was so-so in the first preseason game at San Diego, going 15 of 27 for 135 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. His passer rating was 81.6.

His performance against Cleveland was definitely worse.

Harrell had a passer rating of just 1.7 in the first half against the Browns. His first eight drives resulted in two interceptions, four punts, a safety and a missed field goal.

Finally, in Harrell's ninth series, he led Green Bay 59 yards for a field goal. In Harrell's eight previous series, though, the Packers had just 44 net yards.

In fairness to Harrell, the No. 2 and 3 offensive lines struggled. The wide receivers also failed to impress. But backup quarterbacks all across the NFL deal with similar problems.

"We did some good things in that second half," Harrell said. "We moved the ball well and didn't finish drives. In the first half, they just outplayed us I think."

Ironically, the No. 2 quarterback on the other side was Colt McCoy, a player who reportedly interests Green Bay.

McCoy was extremely impressive, particularly in the third quarter when he led a 7½ minute touchdown drive.

By the end of the game, Packer Nation flocked to social media and began clamoring for McCoy. Those same fans were probably pining for just about anybody not named Graham Harrell, though.

Harrell now has two more weeks to prove to them - and most importantly his bosses - that he belongs.